Not As Easy
by 6six
Summary: Dash never thought that one of Paulina's schemes would have been this messy. Or that he would ever be this in love.
1. Chapter 1

Not As Easy

"Come on, Dash," the Latina pleaded. "Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase. It'll be fun!"

Dash rolled his eyes. "I said no, and I meant no. Why do you even want to become a ghost hunter, anyways?"

"To meet the ghost boy, of course! Do you remember the rumor about how he was dating the Red Huntress? Star and I were talking about it, and we think that he's getting lonely. I mean, Danny Phantom must be pretty affection starved if he was going out with _her._"

"So? Even if they were dating, they aren't any more. She was shooting at him a couple of days ago. I heard about it on the news."

Paulina smirked, "Yeah, and that means that our town's hero now has no girlfriend. I don't think that he has a lot of really close friends either. Have you ever seen him being friendly with any _other_ ghosts? You don't because he's always fighting them."

Dash clued in on what the girl was saying. "So, you want to ask Fenton's parents if we could train to be ghost hunters so you could be his girlfriend."

"That's right."

"Then why do I have to go! I don't want to see you both getting all lovey-dovey." Although the jock would never admit it, he would pay good money to see it in the movie theater, though.

Paulina threw her hands up into the air. "Weren't you listening before? He's going to need some guy friends, too. I'm planning on asking Kwan when he gets back from his foreign-exchange student thingy in a month. Star said she was going to come, too!"

He stopped, mouth hanging wide open. "Wow. You got _Star_ to join. I thought she wanted nothing to do with the world of the undead. She even refuses to watch movies that have anything to do with scary things! What is she going to do if she has to see them on a regular basis?" He sighed. "I guess I'll give it a try. Just to see how this all turns out," he added as an after-thought.

The girl beside him squealed, "Yay! Meet us at the loser's house tonight at five. We all need to be there to try and talk Mrs. Fenton into teaching us."

"Wait! So you don't even know if she's is going to have us be her apprentice's, yet? What's your plan if she says no?" But his complaint fell on deaf ears, as the cheerleader had already walked away.

They were in the middle of their lunch break, but Dash had already eaten and he was getting board. That meant that it was time for him to find his favorite nerd.

"Oh, Fentina! I've got a locker with your name on it!"

His prey looked up and paled. Saying something to his friends, the smaller boy stood up from his table and ran.

Now, Dash had a secret side, as most other teenagers did. And secretly, a small part of him liked Danny. But, unfortunately, the nerd was, well…a nerd. And that meant that Dash wasn't allowed to be friendly towards the other boy. Dash admired Danny's wit, and he often had to stop himself from laughing after all the sarcastic remarks and backhanded insults, even if they were aimed at his expense. Whenever he needed a smile, he went to torture the poor guy. That's how it worked. Danny was also very entertaining when he was being humiliated. He adopted the most adorable blush and pout when he was embarrassed. Even the other guys on the football team _and _most of the cheerleaders agreed that it was cute. Some of them, but not enough to make a difference, liked Danny. As a joke (when they were alone, of course), Dash, Kwan, Paulina, and Star had started calling Fenton "their loser/geek/nerd"; it was almost like they all had a crush on him. They talked about the boy on a regular basis. Danny was popular amongst the popular people of Casper High.

In truth, Danny probably would have made it onto the A-List if he hadn't been friends with the scary Goth-chick and the techno-geek.

Still, that wouldn't stop Dash from harassing the smaller boy.

Was he a little obsessed? Maybe. Did he care? Hell, no.

The jock grinned and let Danny get a head start before chasing after him.

Dash stomped into English.

Danny had gotten away_ again._ This was becoming more and more common. Danny would round a corner, and Dash would follow. But when we looked, the other teen had vanished.

Danny was a fast runner thanks to years of running away from people like Dash, but he wasn't _that_ fast. Not even close to it. Was he ducking into a closet or something? No, it happened when they were outside, too. How was it happening, then?

Dash shook his head, which was starting to ache from trying to figure this out.

At least he was in a class that he shared with the raven. That means he could torment him with Danny being able to run away.

_Danny always gets all flustered and uncomfortable. I swear it's the cutest thing ever, _Dash thought fondly.

Only, he didn't come.

_He must have decided to skip again. Boo. That really sucks! Now I have nothing better to do than pat attention to Mr. Lancer._

All of a sudden, the alarm began to blare, signaling a ghost attack. The students' screamed and ducked, like they had practiced, underneath their desks. There was a boom, followed by a large crash. The terrified teacher and students waited, hushed, for news on what had happened.

It wasn't until several minutes later that the phone rang. Shaking, Mr. Lancer answered it. "Hello…yes…no…no, I understand. See you then," the passionate teacher put the phone back on the desk. Clearing his throat, he said, "It looks like parts of the gym, the girls locker room, and football field was destroyed in another supernatural attack. You can go home; there will be no school for the rest of today and tomorrow. All club and sports meetings are cancelled."

Dash let out a long, slow breath. Well, that's just _great. What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day? I have nothing to do until five._

The bully pushed his way through the crowd of people in the hallways and on the lawn of the damaged school, trying to get to his car. The people that were getting in his way were all trying to catch a glimpse of the ruins that were left.

_I can understand if the girls want to see how bad their things have been destroyed, but there are way too many people here for just that-_

And that's when he caught sight of the ambulance.

"What?" He grabbed onto a nearby band geek. "Hey, do you know who is hurt? Hey, answer me!"

There was too much noise. The clarinet-player's lips were moving, but Dash couldn't hear anything coming out.

Releasing, the frightened boy, he pushed his way closer to the ambulance. Dash was lucky he was taller and stronger than average, otherwise, he would have been trampled by all the other curious onlookers.

He got there just in time to see Danny Fenton being loaded onto the vehicle on a stretcher.


	2. Chapter 2

Paulina looked sullen. They (Dash, Paulina and Star) were in the hospital, trying to do two things: secretly check and see if Danny was okay, and talk his parents into teaching them the ins-and-outs of ghost trapping.

Paulina, manipulative as ever, had a plan before anyone could say, "What should we do?"

"Okay, so this is what we are going to do…"

Star somehow managed to worm her way into Danny's hospital room and convinced his parents to come out. Paulina instantly asked them how Danny was (rather loudly, like she was really worried), because only family was allowed in. Tucker and Sam managed to worm themselves in, but only because they were hurt too, and they all shared the same room. Of course, their injuries weren't as bad as Danny's.

Mrs. Fenton smiled sadly, "Danny's stable, and even though he hasn't woken up yet, he be fine in a few weeks. But he has some broken ribs, and those are going to take more time to heal.

Inwardly, Dash breathed a sigh of relief. Good. Their geek was going to be alright. That was all he needed to know, but Paulina still wanted to convince Danny's parent to take them on as students.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" The anxious mother looked at each of them one by one expectantly, obviously wanting to go back to her baby.

Paulina (like always) took the lead. "Well, this attack really opened our eyes. You know, about protecting ourselves, and the people around us from ghost attacks. And," she paused, chewing her lips (noticeably an act to anyone who knew the girl really well), "We were wondering if you could train us to your apprentices, or something."

Mr. Fenton answered first, after the first initial shock wore off. "Are you sure? After all, the trainings going to be tough, and ghosts are very dangerous."

Paulina gave him a look, and Dash realized that the Homecoming Queen expected him to step in and say something. "That's exactly why we need you to help us learn how to get rid of ghosts safely! If we don't, who else will hunt supernatural happenings when you're gone? We could be the next generation of ghost destroyer's!"

Sam yelled from inside the room, "Come quick. I think that he's having a nightmare!"

Maddie rushed into the room, leaving her husband alone with the hopeful teens.

Jack sighed, "Fine, you can come around to our house sometime tomorrow. By then, I'll have to have gone back to work. You can't believe how awful the hours are for inventors."

Paulina squealed, a gleam in her eyes that made him feel like she was going to blow up the world, or something evil like that. "Thank you Mr. Fenton! You won't regret this!"

The tired-looking man raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Now hold on. I'm only giving you this chance because I know that in a week, you'll have given up. It's just like I said before. This is a very difficult subject to learn."

Dash spoke up. "I can promise you that we won't give up, sir. I'm not one to give up easily." He smiled his brightest, most dazzling smile he had.

But the ageing man just shook his head and turned back around to go into his son's hospital room.

The jock looked around. "Hey, were did Star go?"

"She left a while ago to pull the car around and grab us some sodas. Are you been feeling okay," Paulina raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, "You've been really spacey lately."

"I have?"

"Yeah, it's like you're obsessed with something. I can tell when you are thinking about whatever it is, because your face gets all soft, and you look like a puppy begging his master to pet it."

The sensitive jock blushed. He had no idea that he was so easily readable.

Paulina flashed him her evil, demon smile, and that's when he knew that he should be afraid of whatever the girl was thinking of. "You have a crush!"

"Um…I don't have a crush."

"Yes, you totally do!"

"Paulina, I'm telling you that I most defiantly DO NOT have a crush."

"It's Danny, isn't it?"

There was complete silence. Dash suddenly became very interested in the floor tiles. The cheerleader that was harassing him pushed her chin up proudly…and she laughed.

"Oh my god, you are totally in love with him!"

He sighed, "You probably think I'm a freak. I mean, liking a nerd is one thing, but love…"

She fan-girl screamed, "So you admit you love him?"

"Yes? No! I mean…I don't know. It just kind of slipped out."

Paulina huffed and rolled her eyes. "You know, one of the reasons Star, Kwan, and I suddenly changed our opinions about Fenton is because we knew the entire time that you liked him."

"What! Why didn't anybody say anything?"

"Because we knew that you'd freak out! Look, we don't care who you date, but other people will. You know who I'm talking about."

Oh, yes he did-_Ethan_. The name itself made Dash want to grind his teeth together.

But before he could continue his thoughts, Paulina finished what she was saying before. "And, besides you were not exactly being subtle about how you really felt. If I remember correctly, you were the first person to start calling him our loser. That was what gave you away the most."

Dash winced. He was that see-through the entire time? Geez, that's embarrassing. But, then again, he didn't understand his feelings until just now, so it's not like he had been broadcasting it to the entire world.

Up until now, Dash had always thought that he was interested in Danny because of his banter, and because of the aura of mystery that surrounded the shorter boy. Whenever he caught himself obsessing over everything had happened (when Danny kept disappearing and all), Dash had thought it was because he wanted to figure out the smaller boy. But, no matter how hard Dash tried, he couldn't understand the "loser", and it didn't just make Fenton all the more interesting; it made him all the more interesting.

In fact, Dash was kind of glad Paulina had dragged him into one of her schemes, because now he could keep an even closer eye on Danny. And once Dash found out his secret, he was sure that his infatuation would soon go away.


	3. Chapter 3

It was their first lesson, and Dash was already regretting his choice to listen to Paulina.

He was in the ugliest hazmat suit…EVER, covered in slime, and he hadn't even come close to touching an ecto-gun. All they had done all afternoon was take notes on various ghost facts and watched Mr. Fenton blow up some invention that did who knows what. Now, they were both (except Mr. Fenton, ironically) covered in green plasma, and Dash had to listen to Paulina complain about how long it would her to get it out of her hair.

All in all, he wasn't having a very good evening. Hell, he wasn't having a very good day. And when you heard something like that from Dash, you knew that things weren't going very well. Ever since everybody's parents had been kidnapped by those ghost pirates, he had taken a page from Danny's book and tried to be more optimistic.

_Danny, _Das thought. _Geez, ever since I realized how I (MIGHT!) feel about him, I've worried almost him more than anything else. I'm starting to wander into dangerous territory, but I can't get Danny out of my head, no matter what I do._

Luckily, that hell was over for the day. He could go home, kick back, and finally see if Isabella was realizes that she was being a bitch and apologize to Ricky (from his soap opera).

But still, even as he thought that, Dash knew that that wasn't what was going to happen when he got to his house. He was going to heat up some left-overs, lift some weights, and stay up all night thinking about every single little thing that had to do with Danny. Things like, 'I wonder what he's doing right now', and, 'he always smells really nice, what soap does he use'. Or sometimes he got a little bold and played with the idea of asking Danny out, right in front of Danny's goth friend.

_Oh, imagination. Why do you hate me?_

Sure, now that he was becoming more and more obsessed with the smaller boy, there still was the fear. Fear of rejection. It could come from anybody at any time. Dash's parents, friends, and even complete strangers might shun him for feeling the way he did. Or Danny could refuse to go out with him and Dash would be all alone in one-sided love...if the worst possible thing were to happen, it would be that. It was this fear that kept Dash forever the bully, and never the boy-friend. It was safer for everybody if he just admired from a distance- at least that what he told himself when Danny and him got a little too close.

Cursing, he dropped his car keys and leaned down to pick them up.

And that's when he saw it. The note, that is.

Come to my mansion tomorrow evening.

We have something important to discuss, involving your interest in ghost hunting.

Come alone.

-Mayor Masters

Vlad Plasimus smirked as he landed and transformed back into his human form, both feet back on the ground of his monster of a home.

_I am truly a genius. Only a clever man like my-self could ever cook up such a brilliant plan. I am amazing._

Of course, devious was a better adjective to describe the half ghost. After all, he knew that the golden haired jock was one of Danny's many obstacles and Vlad planned on using that to his advantage. He could see that passion in the teen's eyes when he was shoving poor, poor Danny into lockers. And if Dash were to use that same passion, and Vlad's various weapons, while fighting both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, the smaller boy's morale would diminish until his will to fight was gone all together. Of course, he wasn't just counting on that small-minded boy's skill. Doing that would be too risky. Vlad had many plans to make Danny's life painful to bear. That's when Vlad would swoop in, "save" Danny, and take control over the Amity Park…or the world. Whichever one would make Maddie fall in love with him, and give him the power to destroy the idiot, Jack Fenton.

Oh yes. Vlad Masters was defiantly devious.


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, you're going to do fine. Just don't screw this up._ Dash gulped as he walked up the steps of the pompous manor that belonged to the most powerful man in Amity Park.

To say that he was nervous would be the understatement of the century.

The jocks palms were sweaty, his throat was dry, and he felt like he was going to hurl. People weren't just invited to Vlad Masters house. They were invited. And if you were invited, then he either really liked you or he **REALLY DIDN'T **like you. And Dash was freaking out because he had no idea which person he was to the mayor: the football star or the pig-head bully.

Dash shakily reached out to know (or stop himself from wetting his pants), when the door opened before he had even made contact with it. Standing inside of the door way was a pudgy butler. He had his nose up as if to say, "Your presence is a waste of time, I am far too busy to deal with the likes of you."

"Um, I was asked to meet with Mayor Masters this afternoon," Dash asked, surprising even himself with his polite behavior.

The butler sniffed and then spoke in a condescending tone, "Yes, yes. You were supposed to be here at nine." He waited as if expecting Dash to say something. Dash, of course had no idea what the man was talking about, so he just stood there awkwardly, with his hands clasped together in front of him.

The butler's eyes furrowed, annoyed. "You were supposed to be here precisely six and a half minutes ago."

"I'm sorry," the response came out sounding more like question, though. Mr. Butler huffed, turned on his heel, and began walking down one of the many hallways. When Dash didn't follow he turned around and gave him an irritated look until Dash caught the gist of what was going on and hurried on his way behind the butler.

"So, I'm guessing that you are wondering why I have asked you to come meet me here." The blonde had already been introduced to Mayor Masters, and they were in the library (which was more like a labyrinth) drinking tea.

"Yes sir." The blonde knew that he should talk extra carefully to Vlad, as it might be his entire life of the line. Nobody had actually ever seen him do anything ethically wrong…but there still were the rumors. And if the blonde could go off of what gossip he's heard, then Dash was (and pardon my French) screwed.

"Well, I have a proposition for you. How would you like to hunt ghosts for me?"

Dash sat there confused (which seemed to be happening more often than it did at the Masters Manor). Finally he choked out, "What?"

"Yes, yes. I've learned that you have had a recent interest in ghost hunting. I'll be paying you, of course. Personally, the more ghost hunters we have out there the better. And as long as that stupid Jack Fenton is out of the way, then we can easily trap all the ghosts' that are out there. Amity Park would be a much safer place."

Dash blinked, "I know that. But there are a lot of other people out there who would do a lot better job than I would."

Vlad grinned, "Yes, but _you_ have proper motivation. That's something very hard to come by nowadays, what with all this technology all over the place." Now, Dash didn't know this, but when Vlad said proper motivation, he really meant a love for violence.

"What do you mean my motivation? Do you mean the recent ghost attack at Casper High? Somebody I cared about was hurt there…"

Taking this new information in stride (believing that the quarter back was talking about one of the girls who had gotten scrapped in the cross-fire), Vlad twisted things back into his favor, "Of course I mean something like that. If you become a ghost hunter, then you can protect the people that you care about."

The wheels were turning inside of Dash's head. _Danny…he was hurt pretty badly. If somebody had been there to save him, then maybe he wouldn't be as hurt as he was now._

The poor boy was still recovering. Danny was allowed to go home, but he hadn't wanted to talk to anybody, and Dash couldn't blame him.

Dash nodded his head. "I'll do it."

Vlad grinned. "Of course you will. But I want you to pay extra special attention to taking down Danny Phantom."

"What! Why would you want me to do that? He's like, the town hero!"

"He's only a hero if you choose to see him like that. Phantom played a crucial role in the fight at your school that you mentioned earlier. You might even say that it was his entire fault."

That was the moment when Dash chose to turn his back on Danny Phantom.

When he was still Dash he would continue learning from the Fenton's, and he was still going to through with Paulina's plan. But from that day on, Danny Phantom was not cool…he was a sworn enemy.

The more time Dash had worried over Danny's injuries while he hadn't been able to see how they really looked, the more terrible and exaggerated they had become. The blonde was used to seeing Danny every day, and knowing how bad his bruises were because, well, he had caused them. But the second somebody other than Dash laid a threatened finger on Danny, the second blood was going to be spilled.

Danny was his. Hands down, mouth shut, no questions asked.

Dash loved Danny. He loved the smile on his face when he got an A on a science test, the embarrassed pout on his face when he had been caught wearing a dress, even the determined angle of his chin when he was running away from him. The boy was simply perfect. And Dash didn't really know how to react to perfect.

It scared him.

So he tried to ruin Danny's perfect porcelain skin, but the plan backfired, and Dash ended up hating himself more and more. But still, he craved the physical contact and the way all of Danny's focus would be on him when he was…trying to get away from the jock.

Still. If Dash had to become a ghost hunter to keep Danny safe, then so be it. If he had to endure tedious hours of working in the lab until he knew the ins and outs of everything supernatural, then so be it. And if he had to obliterate Danny Phantom, well then so be it.


	5. Chapter 5

Inspecting the glass in front of him, Dash decided that it was finally clean. The blonde was washing the used beakers from the Fenton's lab. The lesson he, Paulina, and Star had to endure that day was the properties of ectoplasm.

Yawn.

Of course, the two girls weren't as enthusiastic as they were before. But, Paulina was just as stubborn as ever, and she refused to let either of the girls join in. She also managed to convince Kwan to join, which impressed Dash because she did it over the phone so she couldn't have given him her signature "do it or die" look. Just thinking about it made Dash shiver.

"Hey, have you seen my Dad?"

The quarterback's eyes widened when he heard the soft voice. He turned around and caught his first look at Danny in a little over a week. What he saw made his heart ache. The raven's left arm and leg had a cast around it. On what skin that wasn't covered by the cast and his pajamas (which had adorable rocket ships on them) was so badly bruised that it looked like there was more discoloration than normal skin. To top it all off, there were bandages wrapped all around his head.

"Um…no I haven't seen him," Dash rubbed the back of his neck, "Hey, are you doing okay?"

Danny clasped his arms around himself, looking down and avoided meeting Dash's eyes. "Yeah I'm doing fine. I just need to find my Dad. He has my medication."

_He looks so broken. I wish there was something that I could do to help. _The jock scolded himself. _You're helping by studying with Mrs. Fenton...but I still wish I could have stopped him from getting hurt in the first place._

It hadn't been that long ago since Dash had been swearing that he'd just have some fun with the shorter boy, but after a lot of thinking (and a crap-ton of studying), that promise had been easily been forgotten. Dash hadn't even realized his change of heart: he just went with what felt right (which is a habit more people should think about taking up).

The two teens heard the front door slam, and Mr. Fenton's voice called from the living room. "I'm home!" Dash had to roll his eyes. Even though the one who had initially agreed to teach him was Mr. Fenton, he wasn't much of a teacher. He had learned more from her in ten minutes than he had with the fudge obsessed man in one entire day.

Danny awkwardly shuffled his feet. "It sounds like that's him. See you later, I guess," he muttered. The last part was said under the other boy's breath, but it still made Dash's heart beat faster.

After Danny had left, the blonde finished cleaning the lab (Paulina, Star and him switched off doing the chore every day).

_Okay, time for my other job._ Dash pulled out a long, sleek looking piece of metal. Pushing a button on the side, it gracefully expanded over the bully's body. He activated the communication device inside of the helmet.

"Where are you? I can come now." Masters had introduced him to the Red Huntress right after Dash had agreed to work for him. They both kept their identities secret, so things didn't get too weird when or if they saw each other around town.

"I'm right over the movie theater on the west side. Things are pretty quiet today, so I think it's best that we split up for today."

"That sounds right to me."

"So, I'm curious. How did you catch the attention of Mayor Masters?"

"Danny Phantom hurt someone that I cared about. I think that I should make things even."

Dash could practically hear the smirk on the other hunter's face. "Funny. That's really close to my story. Danny Phantom ruined my life."

"Speaking of Phantom, don't you think that it's a little strange that we haven't seen him around lately?"

"No. After big battles like the last one, he likes to disappear for a while. Maybe he runs off and licks his wounds."

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind. See you later. That stupid box ghost is harassing a mailman again."

He turned off his headpiece to the sound of laughter on the other end.

"I already told you Paulina. I don't have time for bowling on Saturday."

Dash was losing yet another fight to the Latina. She wanted him to go with their friends to celebrate Kwan coming home. He had forgotten all about it, and Dash genuinely felt bad about it. But, between football, school, and ghost hunting, he had no time to mess around. He couldn't drop football because that would be suspicious to overly nosy people (*cough* Paulina *cough*). He couldn't leave school because then he would have an even worse future than working at a gas station. Forgetting about ghost hunting was out of the question.

The point was he had been planning on using this Saturday to catch up on some sleep.

"Oh come on Dash. He's your best friend and you haven't seen him in over a month!"

Dash groaned and ran a hand through his hair, "I know, and I want to see him. But I have a lot of things on my mind right now so it's probably safer for everybody if I have my mental moment at home, so nobody thinks that that I'm crazy or on drugs or something." He could hear his words slurring together. Yikes.

Apparently, Paulina could too, because she let it go. Within another ten minutes, Dash was finally free to sleep. With all the things going on in his life, Dash didn't get much time to himself. Football and training with the Fentons was the one luxury he still allowed himself to enjoy on a daily basis, but it was all worth it.

He would still keep up his job even if Danny didn't feel the same way because at the end of the day, it wasn't just the geek he was protecting. It was all of Amity Park.


	6. Chapter 6

"And so I told the moron who had the _nerve_ to ask me out without getting me flowers first…hey, are you alright? You've been a little out of it lately." Dash snapped himself out of his daydream (of Danny) and looked up to find everyone at the popular table watching him with intense interest. Interest is rare for the popular table. It's very rare. Being popular is about having people who are jealous of you, want to be you, and try to work their way into your life.

The whole job was very tiring.

But, the trick was not to show it so that all of the others competing for your spot didn't see your weakness. Therefore, to portray any emotion other than happiness is social suicide.

"Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind."

"And what happened while I was gone to cause you to change like this. Come on, I was gone for an entire month and you've barely said a word to me!" Kwan was gripping his fork so tightly that his knuckles turned white, "I thought that we were best friends Dash."

_Damn_, Dash thought to himself,_ I knew that this was going to happen, but why did it have to so soon?_

The jock knew that at some point, he was going to slip up. That at any time his grades would drop even more, his friends would abandon him, and even football be too stressful. Still, Dash had hoped that he could live in delusion for just a little bit longer.

Ghost hunting really sucked.

But he loved it, or rather what it protected, far too much to quit.

Life sucked even more.

Ducking low into the only place in town Paulina had deemed perfectly safe to gossip (although he suspected that it was just in case anything REALLY embarrassing happened to her she would have the dirt on everybody in town for blackmail) Kwan entered the almost obnoxiously pink bedroom.

Okay, so he didn't really have to duck, but he was uncomfortable asking his best friend's ex-girlfriend about his best friend. Of course Paulina didn't see it that way. No, she saw it as a chance to bring excitement to Casper High and make her life like the soap operas she loved to watch. In Kwan's opinion, he was glad that Dash wasn't dating her anymore. The brunette had defiantly not brought out the good side in his personality. The break-up had been horrible though.

But that's another story.

The very, very pretty cheerleader sitting legs crossed on the bed looked up from her lap top and smiled. The power of beauty must be stronger than most people think, as the second that girl smiled at him, all of his nasty thoughts about her ugly personality vanished. The only reason that he didn't just stand there stammering like an idiot was the fact that he had known her for years. Kwan wasn't delusional. He knew that Paulina wasn't interested in him, and that he would hate himself if he dated her just because of her looks. But the love of his life who talked so easily about the most difficult subjects with him in his dreams looked oddly enough like Paulina.

Nevertheless, as mentioned before, Kwan had known Paulina for many years. Her head was empty then, and it was empty now. But she was still one of his oldest and best friends...which is why he still hung around her. If Paulina had acted like she did now in elementary school they probably would have never been friends in the first place.

"Hello Kwan. You got here sooner than I thought you would."

Kwan tried to be surprised, he really did, but the fact that Paulina had known that he was going to pay her a visit without bothering to tell or ask her first wasn't that unsettling what with her network of spies.

She tilted her head to the side, smile melting into an all-knowing smirk. "I assume that you came to ask about Dash?"

He growled, thoroughly frustrated and slumped into a sitting position on the end of the bed. "I just don't get it! I was only gone for a month, but he somehow in that time became an entirely different person. Dash has barely spoken to me, never hangs out anymore, and spaces out entirely in class- okay, so that not that unusual, but he's not acting like my best friend anymore."

"Hmm. I don't think that Dash is trying to keep things from you. A lot has happened since you left. We started ghost hunting lessons, which you will join in on this week, you left. We started ghost hunting lessons, which you will join in on this week; there was another ghost attack which is why we can't use the locker room anymore, and… I'm actually unsure of how you will react to this." Her tone changed from motherly to indecision.

Kwan leaned in, "What"

"Maybe I shouldn't"

"What is it?" The jock's tone was becoming increasingly anxious, worried about whatever life-changing event happened in his absence.

"I don't think-"

"Tell me!"

Paulina blinked more than a little shocked at the sudden outburst. "Okay, okay! Fine, I'll tell you," she leaned in dramatically, "He admitted that he had feelings for Danny Fenton."

Kwan breathed in a sigh of relief. "Oh, is that it?"

The super model of a girl mouth dropped to form a perfect O. "You already knew?"

"Duh, I told everyone that a **long** time ago. Don't you remember?"

"We all thought that you were joking! None of us figured it out until just before Dash confessed… don't tell him that I said that."

"It was kind of obvious, wasn't it?" He held up three fingers, ticking them off one by one while he talked. "He stopped beating Danny, started complimenting him, and began staring at him intensely at lunch.

If you thought that I was joking, then why did you and Star start being nice?"

For the first time in a long time, Paulina was a loss for the reasoning behind her actions. Shrugging (trying to pass it off as if she didn't care, the Latina choose her words carefully. "I don't know. It got boring I guess."

Kwan raised one-eyebrow, unimpressed with her answer. "I'm sure that's what it was."

Paulina looked up deep in thought and rested one chin on her palm. "But there's still one thing that's bothering me."

"And what's that." The beginnings of a headache were making itself known for both of the teens.

"Like you said before, Dash never just hangs out with us anymore. What's he doing with all of his time?"

Groaning, the Asian collapsed backwards so he was lying down on his backside.

"I have absolutely no idea."

"I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean."

It was Kwan's first day of training, and Mrs. Fenton was trying to show him how to correctly and accurately hit the target. The keyword was trying. To be fair to Kwan, Mrs. Fenton wasn't being that helpful because she kept using words that were either very complex or made up.

Usually, (on Mondays like this one) Paulina, Dash, Star, and now Kwan would be learning about the different types of ghosts and what makes them different. They had all agreed that he should have separate classes to catch up with the science aspect of hunting ghosts and until he did, every lesson would be devoted to learning to use several different weapons.

Dash already had an unusual knack for getting a bull's-eye, and he was desperately trying to hide the fact by purposely missing. The blonde's stepfather had taken him hunting the summer Dash graduated middle school on every weekend for the "bonding" Dash's mother had forced on them. Bill had chosen hunting because apparently fishing was for old men and weaklings.

At first Dash had been horrible, but by the end of the summer he was shooting like pro and had a tinny lit of respect for his stepfather.

Unfortunately, that was also the same summer he met Ethan. Ethan was the son of one of Bill's friends and they sometimes spent their trip together. Ethan seemed nice enough at first. His family had just moved to Amity Park that summer, he liked football, and was already very good at handling a gun. But, he was very much a player.

He didn't care if it was a boy or girl, as long as they were pretty and interesting.

The two boys had a little spat because Ethan asked both Paulina and Star out at the same time, and then both of the girls had basically ordered him to beat him up. Neither of them won, but both came out with horrible bruising and scratches. To tell the truth, Dash had already been disgusted with Ethan's behavior, being the hopeless romantic he secretly was.

And the conflict continues.

Ethan had transferred into Casper High sophomore year and after dating nearly every desirable girl in school (a date here, a casual fling there) and had taken an instant liking to a certain raven haired boy. Danny had deflected the over-zealous advances easily; however Dash was still protective and a little jealous when Ethan grabbed Danny's ass or stole a kiss.

"AHHHH! DASH YOU ALMOST KILLED ME YOU IDIOT!" Coming back to the land of the conscious, Dash realized that he unintentionally pulled the trigger…and shot a spot in the wall that was maybe ten feet away from Star's head.

Blinking, he rubbed the back of his head, "Gosh, Star. I'm really-"

"No," she threw down her handgun, "No! I'm sick of this! You guys are crazy, and I'm soooo sick of this. We are going to die if we continue ghost hunting training. You guys stay here, but it's a waste of time."

She stomped her way to the door and slammed it behind her.

There was silence. Everybody turned to look at Dash.

Maddie cleared her throat. "Maybe this is a good stopping point. I made snacks for everybody because you guys have been working so hard. Apple pie. It's on the kitchen counter upstairs."

Whooping, the three teens left, Star forgotten. Star wasn't really a friend, she was just there (so Paulina wouldn't always be surrounded by guys…she does have a reputation to uphold) nobody really noticed that she was gone.

Like a wise goth said before, girls like those were a dime a dozen.

In the kitchen, they found Jack Fenton enjoying pie as well. He had a whole desert to himself. After cutting a generous piece from the tin, Maddie smiled at all the compliments she received from her apprentices. "You guys do know that I bought this from a Walmart bakery, right."

Kwan licked the remaining crumbs of crust off of his fork, grinning. "Well then, you certainly know how to buy food."

"You kids," she chuckled and shook her head, "I have to go clean the lab and shooting range, now."

Paulina covered her mouth and swallowed, "Thank you Mrs. Fenton."

"Don't you thank me. When everybody's done, you're all going to help me."

Everyone who was currently enjoying their snack suddenly slowed down, taking their own sweet time finishing their meal. It was almost as if they didn't want to help clean. What adolescent didn't want to spend their afternoon tidying up? Note the sarcasm.

Maddie reached the top of the steps before turning around. "Which reminds me; can somebody take an extra slice up to Danny. He's in his room."

Dash practically leaped up from his seat. "I'll do it," he said louder than necessary.

Maddie, who was already half-way down the steps, didn't answer. The remaining people who weren't pigging out (*cough* Jack *cough*) shared a look.

Meanwhile, Dash rushed to bring sweets to his crush.


	7. Chapter 7

Dash took his time returning to the kitchen. It could have been because he didn't want to help clean, but it was most likely because Danny had returned to his usual self. Normally, he would be ecstatic, but he had seen how hurt the smaller boy was, both physically and emotionally.

It was bizarre that he recovered that quickly.

And the former bully hated to think why.

"Hey, Dash?" he looked up to find the object of his worries. Danny looked a little embarrassed, like the dark-haired boy wished he hadn't said anything at all. "Thank you."

Dash let a small smile grace his face, "It's no problem."

Danny turned around, hesitated… and then left, Dash staring wistfully at his back.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWM

"SHIT!" Gritting his teeth together, the blonde attempted to put more focus onto shooting. Although Phantom was the very reason he agreed to have a stereo-typical hero lifestyle, he honestly found it difficult to shoot the bastard. The ghost reminded him a certain someone-maybe it was the way he moved? All he knew was when he saw Phantom, he saw Fenton and he couldn't shot that.

"Damn it you idiot! You have to get your head in the game," the Red Huntresses voice shouted in his ear. Some days, the youth was tempted to destroy the damn thing just so he didn't have to listen to-

Swooping low, a plasma bolt shot a little too close for comfort. The jock screeched to a bumpy landing in a park (with his hover-board in shreds and him with a face full of dirt) and groaned.

EVERY PART of his body HURT. A LOT. OUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCH.

Really, there was a point in time when people need a break, and for Dash, now was that time. Unfortunately, it was currently Monday. That meant that tomorrow was Tuesday. Tuesdays _suck._ They suck more than crash landings. They are the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

Most people complain about Mondays, but Tuesdays are the source of all human suffering. On Monday, sure you miss your weekend but on GOD-DAMNED TUESDAYS (especially mornings) you're tired from Monday and have already ran out of all the rest you got from the weekend and still have the REST OF THE FREAKING WEEK AHEAD OF YOU!

"Red?"

"You let him get away again! What do you want now?" The girl landed neatly on the grass next to where Dash laid spread eagled and looked down at him.

"I think I need some time off."

She sneered. "Sure, and while you're gone, how 'bout you bring some common sense back with you."

A branch snapped, and in the blink of an eye, his comrade abandoned him. Her leaving was actually a good thing because that meant he could take of his hazmat and mask and hide in plain sight.

"Oh my gosh, Dash, you look awful! What happened? Was it a ghost attack?"

Oh _god_, just his luck that his crush where to find him looking like a mess. Just great. Note the sarcasm. Why wouldn't he, right?

The bigger boy nodded, and instantly regretted it as it made the pounding in his head even worse than before.

"Here come with me. I can bandage your cuts at my house."

"That sounds alright."

_Wait- what? Did I just agree to that? Oh God, he's going to __**touch and care**__ for me! What If something embarrassing happens? Okay, Dash. Don't say anything that makes you sound like an idiot._

"Dash, did you hit your head. Hey, Dash! Do you want to go to the hospital? Maybe your wounds are worse than they look." The football player in question knew want he wanted And he definitely had no question about who he would rather have help heal him- a faceless nurse or Danny Fenton. Um, duh…that's a no-brainer. All the hopelessly in love teenager had to do was gracefully answer in a funny yet charming way that didn't sound too desperate.

Unfortunately, he also wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, if you know what I mean.

"What no! No no no I'm perfectly fine with having **you **bandage them." Realizing, all too late, that he had made it sound as if it were a sacrifice- like he still resented the smaller boy or something. Opps.

Looking down, Dash found that he had also grabbed Danny and pulled him into an unanticipated, but very much welcomed, hug.

Danny smelled like chocolate-chip cookies.

Yummy.


	8. Chapter 8

Awkwardly, Danny circled his arms around the wounded warrior (although he didn't know he was defending him- yet) and patted his back. "Uhhh. Well… okay. Do you need help walking?"

Dash blushed, embarrassed to appear so vulnerable in front of the smaller boy. "No, I can get there on my own." He stood up and limped down the sidewalk.

"Um, Dash."

"Yes."

"My house is in the opposite direction."

"…"

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"So how did you manage to get banged up so badly? Most ghosts don't attack unless you get in their way, or something."

Dash, still in total awe of the close proximity of him and his crush could only clumsily dodge the questions with lies that made his chest ache with every word.

"I guess I was just in the wrong place at wrong time."

Danny raised an eyebrow, leaning in to adjust the bandage. "You guess?"

"Who knows why ghosts do anything?" Dash silently pleaded with every deity he ever heard of that Danny would not notice his excessive nervous sweating.

"You know what. I think I was completely wrong about you."

"Excuse me?"

"I was convinced that you were some kind of airheaded jerk, but I think now that you were just misunderstood. Or you just changed."

Danny motioned to Dash that he was done and could move off of the kitchen counter where he had been perched for the last twenty minutes. Uncomfortably, the jock rubbed the back of his neck. "Thank you."

There was a tense pause. Neither one of them spoke. Neither one of them looked at each other, effectively avoiding the others eyes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dash clapped his hands together. "So. I should be… I should start getting home."

"Oh! Yes of course." Danny nodded, with the enthusiasm of one who didn't know what else to say. "Soooo I'll see you tomorrow? At school?" He added the last part as if it was an afterthought.

The blonde headed towards the door, turned around, and (without thinking, finding just enough bravery to ask one question he would later _freak out_ about) asked, "Do you want to meet me at the Nasty Burger tomorrow?"

Needless to say, Danny looked surprised. "Um, sure. That sounds like fun."

"Really!?" Dash tried to pass it off as cool (which Danny secretly liked), "I mean, I think it sounds fun too. Let's meet at five."

"Okay. See you there." The raven smiled.

"Okay. Cool."

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"Why THE HELL did I do that! That was such a stupid thing to do! I- I don't think I can follow through with this." Dash swallowed hard, mouth dry. "Maybe I should cancel."

"Oh, no. You are doing this." Paulina was irritated, something that didn't happen very often. She was used to people catering to her every whim. "You like him, and he likes you- at least, he likes you enough to say yes to a date…"

Dash, who was currently in full freak-out mode visibly perked up to the idea. "A date! Is this a date? Oh god, what if he doesn't think this is a date? What should I wear!"

The cheerleader, fed up with her friends ramblings, slapped him across the face.

That shut him up.

"W- what?" The blonde looked so lost, as if he was the most innocent being in the world; which of course, is strange in of itself, as he had amazing accuracy with weapons and had been a bully for the longest of times.

"Just be yourself. Wear what you would normally wear, okay."

"Paulina, sometimes it's more difficult to be yourself than pretending to be another person. I'm afraid it's just not as easy as you think."

The Latina, for her part, was so shocked by his very adult advice, stayed quiet.

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"I shouldn't have said yes." Danny was lying on his bed, stomach side down.

Sam and Tucker where trying to talk him out of cancelling and skipping school out of embarrassment, something that the distressed teen was leaning on doing.

Tucker sighed. "Dude, if you didn't like the guy, then you shouldn't have said yes in the first place."

"I do like him."

Sam tilted her head back and rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Then what's your problem?"

"I- I don't know. I guess it's not as easy to explain as you'd think it is."

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "Try us."

"Look, what Dash and I have is… different than a lot of other high-school relationships. He used to bully me but now I like him and I see him every day and-"

Sam threw a pillow at Danny's head. "Slow down. You're acting like a love sick girl."

The raven haired boy blushed a deep red and Tucker laughed at him. "Aw. Our little Danny is smitten."

"Shut up. What Dash and I have is just-"

The goth cut him off again, something that she was making a habit of doing lately. "Chemistry?"

"Yeah. Chemistry sounds about right." Danny stood. "Soooo, what do you think I should wear?"

VPVPVPVPVPVP

Vlad Masters stroked his pet cat's back gently. Although it didn't show on his face, he was very much irritated. This wasn't supposed happen. Danny and Dash were supposed to resent each other. Not date.

But the pictures on his computer screen were proof enough that that was not what was going on between the two. And the audio that what with it just disappointed him even more.

_"__Do you want to meet me at the Nasty Burger tomorrow?"_

_"__Um, sure. That sounds like fun."_

_"__Really!? "I mean, I think it sounds fun too. Let's meet at five."_

"Oh, no. That just won't do. That won't do at all."

Cackling evilly, the twisted man picked up his phone and called Valerie.

"Hello, my dear! I have some new information for you. A ghost is plotting to attack the Nasty Burger tomorrow at six. He's not planning on taking hostages."

The girls voice crackled on the other end. "Really? Who is it, and why would they attack that horrible place?"

"I don't know. And his name is Plasmius."

Putting the phone down, the deranged man transformed in a flash of white light into his alter ego.


	9. Chapter 9

Dash waited nervously outside the doors to the Nasty Burger. Danny was supposed to meet him ten minutes ago, but hadn't shown up yet. Now, normally he wouldn't have worried. After all, it is just ten minutes and there could be a perfectly logical explanation.

But Danny was like a danger magnet... and Dash was already on edge, not knowing what to expect from the raven haired boy.

"I mean it Ethan, get lost."

"Oh come on, baby! You know you want me. Lucky for you I share the same feelings."

"God, you can be such a dick sometimes!"

The blonde jolted and searched for the source of the voices he knew all too well.

Danny and Ethan where currently arguing fiercely against one another. Ethan was driving in his convertible with his delinquent followers (who all seemed very amused at the scene playing out in front of them) next to a very annoyed Danny, who looked like he was about to lose it.

"And you love that about me."

"Do you even hear yourself? How many times must I say it before it finally reaches your thick, demented skull? I DON'T LIKE YOU!"

Dash felt himself smiling as little bit at hearing that, but at the same time feeling apprehensive, just in case this foreshadowed his and Danny's questionable relationship.

"Oh really," Ethan parked the car on the curb and jumped out without opening the door. The oblivious teen grabbed the smaller boy by the shoulders grinning.

"Then why did you walk right past are hangout in skinny jeans, very nice by the way, on your way to the restaurant that we've eaten at every Tuesday for the last three years."

The blonde, barely aware of his actions, cut in. "As a matter of fact he's here on a date."

The look on both of their faces was priceless. His eyes widened comically, making his piercings rise.

Dash tore the surprised raven away from Ethan's grip. Danny looked up at the bigger boy stunned. "Dash?"

"You're on a date… with him."

Danny seemed to find his voice. "Yes I am. Don't sound so confident now, do you Ethan."

The troublesome teen pursed his lips, eyes squinted. "I see." He turned around and got back in his car.

One of his friends laughed obnoxiously. "Oh! Burn, you just got told!"

Ethan punched him none too playfully on the arm muttering, "Shut up." He grabbed something from inside his car and motioned for the rest of the people inside with him to get out.

"Well," he said, voice sharp and cold with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Don't let me get in your way."

Once inside, the date went pretty well… at first. The conversation was easy, the laughter wasn't at any point forced, and the thing that put a damper on spirits was Ethan (who was glaring in the corner, angrily eating his curly fries).

And it all went wrong the minute Dash's phone rang.

I know, big whup right? But it was what was on the other end of the line that made Dash's happy smile disappear. Standing up, the bigger boy made a lame excuse and whiningly answered his earpiece receiver outside.

"Huntress, did you really have to call me now? You totally just ruined the most perfect moment I will probably ever have ever. You know how risky it is to use the radio when we aren't sure if the other is in public or not."

"I don't care about consequences! Get your ass down to the Nasty Burger right now!"

Dash's short attention span was suddenly captured, and he gripped the small, black radio so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "What's wrong at the Nasty Burger?"

"It's about to be attacked by a super powerful ghost!"

"And how do you know this?" The jock still clung to the shrinking hope that everything was still as perfect as it was before."

"… Master's told me."

"And you didn't think it right to let me know! Shit, I had plans!"

"I'm sorry," Dash was too busy seething to recognize how panicked the girl on the other end sounded, "I thought I could handle him on my own, but Plasimus snuck right past me!"

The blonde exhaled slowly. "Okay. I'll be there to help you as soon as I can. Don't anything stupid."

"Hey I've been doing this way longer than you could ever hope to-" He closed the phone.

Sighing, Dash made his way over to his date.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. It's a family emergency." The jock hoped that his expression wasn't too panicked, as they were standing in what was about to become a battlefield.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

Ahhh! He didn't have a good excuse as to why he had to leave… he really didn't like lying to Danny. Trying to think quickly, Dash raked his mind for an idea. "Umm, my uncle was having an affair. My Aunt Julie is devastated," he said, suddenly remembering the soap opera he had watched while doing his seemingly endless homework only the night before.

Danny's stood up and hugged him. "Well then you should get going. Thank you for this. I had fun!" It took Dash a minute to realize he should hug back, as the bodily contact had short-circuited his brain. And it took him even longer to remember to find a way to get Danny away from the danger.

"Hey, I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay here alone." In a flash of brilliance, he came up with a good lie. "Ethan might try something… weird."

Danny nodded thoughtfully. "You're probably right. Tucker's house isn't too far from here. I think I'll see if I can stay there for a bit."

Dash grinned, relieved. "Sounds like a plan." They both stood, making their way to the door.

"See you later, I guess."

The blonde nodded and waved goodbye, both of the boys turning their separate ways once they were out the door.

Vlad entered the Nasty Burger with a bang, throwing several unoccupied tables across the room. Unfortunately, it was all for naught. One boy had already left and was playing video games with one of his best friends (although Vlad didn't know that), and wouldn't hear about the attack until the next morning. And the other one was patiently waiting for him with guns at the ready.


End file.
